The biggest news in the tech industry this week, Elon Musk buys Twitter for $44bn. The purchase is being labelled ‘the overhaul to the internet economy‘ as Musk’s business strategy gives him a unique ability to move markets.

In a statement announcing the deal, Musk said “Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated. I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spambots, and authenticating all humans”.

News:

• In a bid to rein in illegal content, platforms like Facebook and Google must follow new bans under the Digital Services act ruled by EU or face multibillion-euro fines.
• On May 9th, Meta will debut its first IRL store near its Reality Labs headquarters. The store will allow customers to test Portal, Ray-Ban Stories, and Quest 2.

Start-up:

• Agricoo, is an urban farming start-up with a mission to build a healthier and more responsible food system. Producing sustainable fruits and vegetables (year-round), locally within cities. Available in-store, delivery, and local restaurants.

Insights:

• Instagram introduces new creator-focused features to credit originality and creativity. Including product tags, enhanced tags and ranking for originality.
• Coachella and Fortnite collaborate through skins and the in-game radio, to reimagine festival fashion and give performing musicians more online exposure.
• The BeReal unedited photo-sharing app, created in 2019 by former GoPro employee, climbs the charts as Gen Z pushes popularity.
• YouScan analysed over a billion posts to deliver key social media trends, focusing on branded content to learn which brands are gaining traction.